


Some invisible string

by TessiePessie



Category: Pride and Prejudice (1995), Pride and Prejudice (2005), Pride and Prejudice (TV 1980), Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Modern Era, Please Forgive me, Puppy Love, Slow Burn, i just like this 2 a lot, this is not a retelling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26902024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TessiePessie/pseuds/TessiePessie
Summary: Elizabeth was feverish.Her cheeks were rosy, her forehead sweating and she’d been reading the same sentence again, and again, and again. The word looked like a blur. Just letters on a screen, almost dancing, almost falling.She might be sick.No,no.What a tragedy it would be, if she fainted in front of a stranger? but look at the bright side, at least Jane has a date.(bad summary is bad)
Relationships: Elizabeth Bennet & Fitzwillliam Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy, Jane Bennet & Charles Bingley, Jane Bennet/Charles Bingley
Comments: 14
Kudos: 95





	1. Time, curious time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laure001](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laure001/gifts).



> Well, this is my first try in this fandom and I only did it because Laure001 is amazing and she gave me the idea.
> 
> I hope you like the story, I truly enjoyed it.
> 
> PS: my firs language is spanish, so apologies in advance.

Elizabeth was feverish. 

Her cheeks were rosy, her forehead sweating and she’d been reading the same sentence again, and again, and again. The word looked like a blur. Just letters on a screen, almost dancing, almost falling.

She might be sick. 

No, _no._

She couldn’t get sick, she had a defense to prepare. A big case, very important, very respectable case, and the woman, _the client,_ chose her to be the one in charge, even when she was just an intern. 

But she might be sick. _Is she?_

“Miss?”, said a voice from far, far away. Or maybe, just maybe, from right beside her. Elizabeth doesn’t know anymore, she just wants a nap.

“Miss”, repeated the voice more urgently this time, and the brunette tried to make the _easy but painful_ move to look at the man who spoke to her, but her vision started filling with blank dots and a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders.

Then nothing.

_Nothing._

* * *

Honestly, Darcy just wanted to ask the woman if she was going to use the charger in the wall. His phone was dying and he needed to call Georgiana, to ask her if she was okay, or if he would need to take the first plane to Germany and bring her back. But now he had an unconscious stranger in his arms… _and he didn’t know what to do._

He should have noticed it. This lady was watching the screen of her laptop for a good half hour without blinking (not that he’d been looking at her that much, of course not, he just wanted the charger). At first, he thought that she might be sleeping. With her eyes open. In a very firm position.

But now, looking closer, he noticed the deadly pale tone of her lips, a heavy contrast with her rosy cheeks. She was also unbelievably cold for someone wrapped in a very thick wool sweater, but her face was radiating heat and she was sweating. 

Darcy asked himself how was that even possible.

It had been a minute since the woman passed out and he still hadn’t moved, praying that, for some miracle, she’d wake up and act like nothing of this happened.

Two minutes now. She is still in his arms.

It was the sound of something buzzing in the table that broke his inner panicking.

With one hand, Darcy took the cellphone and answered the call hoping that, maybe, someone could come and pick the stranger.

“Lizzie, thank god you didn’t send me to the voicemail”, said a woman on the other end of the line. “Mom is insufferable and dad is… well, Dad. You have to come have dinner with the Lucas”.

“Hello?”

“Oh! sorry… wrong number?”, asked the voice, and then, a pause. “No, no! This is my sister’s number, with whom am I talking? Can I have her please?”.

“Hello”, he tried again. “I’m Williams Darcy. Your sister, _Lizzie_ , passed out in the public library I.. er… “ and then, a sigh. “I will take her to the hospital”.

“Oh my god!”, said the voice. “ _Oh my god_!” repeated. “Where are you taking her? I’m on my way”.

Well, there goes his afternoon.

“Saint John Hospital. I’ll have her cellphone”.

“Ok. Thank you. Thank you”, said the frantic woman. “Really thank you”, and she cut the call.

At some point, the stranger opened her eyes but still didn’t seem focused enough to know what was going on. So he told her briefly what happened, got her name and what they were going to do next. She just nodded but didn’t move.

“Ok miss Bennet. I’m going to grab your things. Do you think you can walk on your own?”

Again, she just nodded.

It took them more than 10 minutes to get to his car because, at some point, she almost fainted again, and then another 15 to get to the hospital where she passed out in the parking lot and he had to carry her to the door.

By all means, this was a weird day.

At this point, he was really worried about the stranger. Well, Elizabeth. With everything that happened they might as well be acquainted with. That’s why after the nurse took her to the E.R Room and her sister arrived and told him that he could leave, he sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair and waited.

At least, they had somewhere to charge his cellphone. He could call Georgiana and kill time.

* * *

The room was bright white. 

White roof, white walls, white sheets.

White was the face of dear, sweet Jane who was looking at her with worried teary eyes. _What was she doing here?_

_Wait, where was she?_

Elizabeth tried to sit, but her sister's hand pushed her back down.

“You were severely dehydrated. With a very high fever. Why Lizzie, why….”, said Jane, patting her head. “I told you this morning that you looked sick”.

It was true. 

Jane raised an eyebrow. That morning she woke up late. Elizabeth was an early bird, she didn’t even need an alarm, but today her sister had to drag her out of bed, almost dress her like a doll and make her eat her breakfast. Something that hadn’t happened since she was 10 years old.

“How lucky you were to have your friend with you”, said Jane sitting in the bed. “So, tell me. Who is the handsome man waiting for you in the corridor”.

_Friend? Who?_

“I was alone in the library”, answered a confused Elizabeth. “Of whom are you talking about?”

“But… he’s out there. He picked up the phone and said that he’d bring you here”, Jane was looking between Lizzie and the door. “He even paid for the medical bill”.

That was enough. Elizabeth sat on the bed, with big eyes and warm cheeks again. Her heart was beating fast with a mixture of embarrassment and mortification. Her hand flew to cover her face.

 _“Miss”,_ said the rich voice in her dream. _“Miss, are you alright? my name is William Darcy”,_ Lizzie couldn’t believe that this actually happened. _“I think we should go to a hospital”._

 _Oh my god,_ she almost cried. _Please, somebody, kill me._

“Can you ask him to leave?”, pleaded the brunette just a bit louder than a whisper. 

“I told him that he could leave when I got here, but he wanted to make sure you were ok”, Jane looked at her with those disapproving eyes that unnerved her. “Be a polite good girl and at least say hi”.

* * *

Georgiana wasn’t picking the phone.

Georgiana wasn’t picking the phone and Darcy was pretty sure that his sister was murdered.

“She is a teenage girl in a beautiful, European city,” said Charles on the phone. “Of course she is not going to be worried to pick the call of her lame, older brother”.

“I’m not lame”, was his quick answer. Too quick to be an honest answer.

“Anyway, why are you in the hospital again?”

Charlie was his best friend. Probably his only friend if he didn’t count his cousin. He loved him, but Charlie had the attention span of a golden retriever. And sometimes it was tiring having to explain the same thing over and over again.

“Nevermind”, he said when Darcy opened his mouth. “I’m here, so we can go for a beer later or a regular bromantic dinner”.

His voice sounded loud in the corridor and Darcy raised a hand. His friend smiled wide and ran towards him, ignoring the not so kind stare of a nurse.

Just in time, the door opened and gave way to the sister of the library girl AKA Elizabeth Bennet.

His friend, quick at his feet, beat him at the moment to talk.

“Charles Bingley, nice to meet”, he said, taking her hand. “This is William Darcy”.

“She knows that. We met before”.

“Oh, right right… “

The blonde woman didn’t seem perturbed, at all, she just smiled kindly. “I’m Jane Bennet”, she spoke calmly, and then looked directly at Darcy. “The doctor said that my sister needs rest and fluids, so they are going to have her here tonight and in the morning she can leave. She’s awake now if you want to talk to her”.

“OH! No, no. That's fine, leave her rest”, suddenly the idea of talking to the conscious woman was kinda scary and William regretted his decision of not leaving when Jane asked him earlier.

And now Charlie was looking at him like he was mental. He might be. Mental and lame.

“But…” mumbled Charles, capturing the attention of the woman. “Can I have your number? to check on her later”.

“Of course”, answered Jane with a cellphone in her hand, unlocking the screen. “That’s very nice of you guys”.

“And to ask you for dinner, too”, Charlie’s face took the same color of his hair and Darcy was extremely confused about what was going on behind his nose. “Just the two of us. If you want, of course”.

“ _Oh”_ , gaped Jane and her cheek turned pink. “Yes!, yes, I would like that. Yes. Dinner. Thank you, yes!” The woman trempled and picked Charles’s phone with a big smile, and after putting her number there, she returned it to him. “I have a sister... I have to go. But dinner is nice, it is”.

And then, Jane stopped the mumbling.

And then she smiled again and Charlie did it too.

And then, she disappeared into the room

_What did just happen?_

“Don't you think she is the prettiest girl in the world?” said his stupid friend with a stupid smile. “She’s just like an angel”.

“You are infuriating”, answered Darcy. “Let’s go, I’m starving”.

  
  



	2. Gave me no compasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was tempted to click ‘follow’ but there was a really thin line between curious and creep, and he was one step away from crossing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy for the reception of the first chapter <3 I have the idea of the next 3 chapter, so we are cool, after that... I'll have to think about it.
> 
> Anyway, I do not have update days scheduled so I apologize in advance.

“So, you are telling me that, while you were bedridden in the hospital, your sister got a date”, said Charlotte from the sofa, sipping her wine. “With a really handsome _and_ rich man? what was I doing?”

“Preparing dinner at my house”

Elizabeth was on the floor, looking at her notes, eating cheese, and pretending that she wasn’t worried about Jane. A normal Friday night.

Her sister had her date today. She was a nervous butterfly the whole day, worrying about what to wear, what to say, how to behave.

_“Jane, dearest Jane”_ , said Lizzie earlier. _“If this man doesn’t see how pretty you are and how smart you are, then he is an absolute buffoon and doesn't deserve you”._

_“You are right. Of course, you are right”,_ answered her sister posing in front of the mirror. _“Do you think this dress makes me look pale?”_

“Well, my potato salad was a sensation”, replied Charlotte. She crashed at her and Jane’s apartment with the excuse of helping Elizabeth study but they both knew that the real reason was to get a glimpse of the charming man that got her sister's number in a hospital. “But I still think that I should be there, maybe _I_ will be dating the mysterious friend now!”

“Charlotte, you are a lesbian”, commented Lizzie, sitting straight and picked her glass. She really needed to study, but her brain was tired. She could indulge the alcohol for a night and pick up her notes the next evening.

“But I could fake straightness for a while”, unshameful Charlotte spoke with a smile. “The weight of the wallet helps”.

Two weeks ago she had the Most Embarrassing Day Of Her Life and since then, Jane was interchanging text with the best friend of her rescuer, going to dance, to dinners and movies.

Some days, and apparently when Elizabeth was especially tired, he came to the apartment to drink tea and share flirty looks with her sister.

And this is what she knows about him, thanks to Jane and, of course, the Internet.

Name? Charles Bingley. Age? 28 years old. Status? single and with two sisters that might contribute to keeping things that way because, in Jane’s words, _“they don’t seem so kind”_ which means that they were really awful. Occupation? His father died and now he has a lot of money and nothing to do with it, but he studied finances so... that’s it.

At the moment, Elizabeth was not sure she liked this guy, but her sister was happy and that was all that mattered. Still, she wanted to have a little conversation with him; tell him that her family may not be rich but she was a lawyer (ish), so she could put a lawsuit on him and take all his money. 

Just, a little warning.

At least, this man seemed honestly worried about Elizabeth's health and the first time that he came to Jane and Lizzie’s apartment, he brought a bunch of expensive tea and infusions for her to drink.  _ “My mother used to drink this when she felt tired, I guess it could help you too” _ , he said, giving Lizzie a hot cup of something that smelled very herbal, with a bright smile that she only saw on her sister,  _ “I can make you soup too. I’m a really good cook”. _

Ok, maybe she liked this guy because he was, indeed, a really good cook and most days she didn't have to think about what she’s going to eat because, somehow, Charles Bingley made her lunch for the whole week and… who does that?

“I think he’s perfect for our Jane”, Charlotte spoke while scrolling through Instagram on her cellphone. “He’s handsome, funny, and looks at her like she is the sun”.

“Awful metaphor”, replied Elizabeth, “If she was the sun, he could not look at her, he’d go blind”.

“You know what I mean, smart pants”, said her friend, throwing a pillow to her that nearly dropped the glass of wine. “He’s really into our Janey”.

* * *

“So, you are telling me that you were the knight in shiny armor”, Richard was looking through Darcy's room, even though he’d been here like once a month since he bought the house. “But somehow Bingley got the girl?”

“Just the sister, not the damsel in distress”, replied Darcy, eyes fixed on the screen of his laptop.

He should be sending emails. Boring emails of his company, with answers to meetings and polite discussions on topics that he didn’t care about, but his attention kept flicking to one tab. To one name.

At first, he told himself that it was Charlie's fault. Since he started dating “his angel”, he talked about her sister too. About her health, of course.  _ “I thought you might want to know that she didn’t die, Jane is very grateful for what you did” _ , he said one afternoon, while they were shopping for Charles' new apartment.

A new apartment that was really close to Bennet’s family. A funny coincidence, considering that he rented it a month ago.

Back to Darcy’s room. His cousin now picked a book and was passing pages without really looking at what was written. 

He had the week off from the army, so he could be anywhere, as a matter of fact. At his family’s house, on the beach, maybe even a quick trip to a Caribbean country, but Richard said that he wasn’t in the mood to see how his dad was doing and the beach wasn’t his thing, so he chose to spend his free time with William. 

He knew that the real reason was that Darcy might be a bit depressed alone in his big house, without Georgiana playing music, without her laugh. That’s why Charlie was here more often than in his new place too. They don’t want him to be alone, and Darcy appreciated that they weren’t so frontal and told him that he should relax and cut being worried about his sister.

“So, what did you find out about her? is she pretty?”, asked his cousin, dropping the book and picking another one. Darcy just looked at him, lips sealed. “This Elizabeth Bennet, is she pretty?”

“What are you saying?”

“I know that you have been googling her. You are wearing glasses, it reflects the screen”, unconsciously, William took his glasses off and closed his laptop.

Anyway, he felt like “guilty” was written over his head with big, brilliant letters.

Again, it was Charlie’s fault. He could forget about her, he  _ wanted _ to forget about that day, but his best friend was dating the sister of the woman in question, and now he found himself thinking about her in his daily routine. He fought against the will to ask about her, but not much against the need to Google her name.   


And. There. Were. A. Lot. Of. Elizabeths. Bennet.

The easy route was Facebook, he should have started there. Bingley and Jane were friends (of course) so he looked at her list of contacts and there she was.A big smile at the camera, sunglasses, and a pretty garden in the background, but, besides a few pictures, everything was private.

Clever girl.

So, he went to Instagram, and again, the connection made it easy. 

_ “26 and pretending to be a lawyer. An unapologetic feminist. Yes IT IS about equality” _ , said her bio, and, for a mysterious reason, that made him smile. He was tempted to click ‘follow’ but there was a really thin line between curious and creep, and he was one step away from crossing it.

“Do you want a drink?” he offered, standing up.

“Don’t change the topic”.

“I have gin, you like gin”, he answered, opening a cabinet and taking out a bottle.

“Don’t change the topic”, repeated Richard, extending an empty glass. “Do you have a crush on her?”.

“I don’t know her”.

“But you are interested in her”.

“I didn’t even speak to her”.

“Then why are you looking for her name on the Internet?”, Richard walked to the sofa, gin in one hand and a cocky smile on his face. “We are all grown up, you can say it”.

“Ok, it is possible that  _ I may be interested  _ in her, but you have to recognize this whole situation is the script of some cheap Hollywood movie”.

“The only thing that I’m going to say is that I want to be the best man”, said his cousin, drinking. “Charlie would be awful with the bachelorette party”.

  
  


* * *

She just had to drop something on Charlie’s apartment, and then leave. Didn’t want to interrupt his dinner with Jane, but she was going to spend the night there and asked Elizabeth to bring her the final exams for her students to correct and a toothbrush, and now she was sitting at the table eating lasagna. With William Darcy at her side.

_ “You can’t leave us now” _ , said Charles, looking so happy that it’d have hurted to say no. “It would be fun!”

So, she agreed and asked him what she could do to help, and he told her that her mission was to prepare the salad. Lizzie was in the middle of cutting lettuce when the doorbell rang, and then, Jane and Charlie were laughing and greeting someone.

_ “Are you sure we are not bothering you?”,  _ said a familiar voice.

_ “Of course not, Jane’s sister is in the kitchen”,  _ answered Charlie.  _ “I bet she will be happy to see you again”. _

_ Oh no, oh no no-no-no. _

_ Was it too high to jump out through the window? _

She didn’t, of course. It was only a nice thought.

On a normal day, Elizabeth would be laughing and sharing stories. Talking nonstop, very vivid, very interested in everything around her, but not tonight. The man at her side looked mortified and he only smiled once, the guy in front her,  _ Richard _ , looked at her like he knew something funny and she didn’t shake the feeling that this entire night was a plot by Charlie and Jane. 

But then, something changed.

“Lydia and Kitty are in this age when they only think about partying”, said Jane, smiling. “I’m a bit worried, maybe I should talk to her, but again, they are teenagers, they won't listen to their big sister”.

“Our Darcy boy knows about that”, spoke Richard. “He is currently in a very depressed mood because his little sister wanted more,  _ god knows why,  _ to spend her summer with her friends in Europe than with him in an empty house”.

“It is a school trip”, said the man in question, dropping his fork. “It’s not ‘just a trip’. It’s not”, he repeated miserably looking at Jane.

“You have a sister?”, asked Elizabeth without thinking.

“Yes”, said the man, now his blue eyes fixed on her. At the light, it seemed like they were sparking. “She’s eighteen and she’s very shy, I’m worried about her”.

And then, Elizabeth spoke a bit more. She asked more about her, what worried him with this trip, what she liked, and when he said that Georgiana was an  _ excellent pianist,  _ Lizzie replied that Mary used to play too, but now she was more into her philosophy studies so she rarely spent time on her hobbies anymore. She told him that, at some point, she used to play  _ “but I was awful, music is not my thing”. _

“And what is ‘your thing’”, he asked, slightly inclined towards her.

“Words”, she answered with a big smile. “I like words and the power they have. How a few letters can change the world and make things right”.

“And arguments”, Jane spoke very seriously. “Honestly, I’ve never seen a seven years expound on the cons of eating broccoli as she did. Mom was about to give in if it weren't for ... well, it's Mom”.

“What can I say, I always knew that I was going to be a lawyer”, she said, picking her glass of wine. “Now I have to fight to be the best one”.

In the end, it was a pleasant night. At some point, they migrated to the living room. Richard looked into Charlie’s music collection and opted for Janis Joplin and let her music fill the room. She picked UNO and everyone started playing with her, and in silence, she made an agreement with Darcy to make Charlie lose.

“That’s not fair”, he protested, holding Jane’s hand. “This is my apartment, I demand respect”.

“You are a sore loser”, replied Darcy. “We didn’t do anything”.

Almost midnight, her eyes were closing.The wine effect caught with her, so she announced that it was the right moment to call an Uber.

“We are leaving too, we could drop you by”, said Richard. “I didn’t drink so your life is safe in my hands”. 

“Are you sure? I’m pretty sure that my apartment is not in your route”.

“No, It’s really not”, said Darcy. “Also, you can pay us for the trip”.

Elizabeth looked at him in the eyes. His face was serious, she wondered… but there it was, in the corner of his lips, the ghost of a smile fighting to show up. He was joking.

Elizabeth Laughed.

“Oh no, I appreciate the generosity. I’m pretty sure that I could not pay the price of your exclusive service”.

Twenty minutes later, she was in her apartment. William, the gentleman, dropped her at her door and bid her good night. “ _ It was a fun night,”  _ he said _. “Maybe I can manipulate Charlie to repeat it”. _

_ “I would love that”. _

_ “Well… good night Miss Bennet”. _

_ “Good night Mister Darcy”. _

Elizabeth was on her bed, face illuminated by the white light of the screen, half asleep and half awake, she knew that she should drop the phone but a new notification appeared.

_ W.Darcy is following you. _

Five seconds later, Lizzie clicked follow back.

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna talk, catch me in tumblr: anotherdayblue.tumblr.com or tessiepessie.tumblr.com


End file.
